Submission by  RedDyeNo5 and drawn for me. Go support her work!



The club was just closing down, he had just gotten his stuff packed away and was about to head into his pick-up truck. Before he left though he had an interesting experience when it came to helping the bar owner carry out a couch that he was planning on having junked and now it was time to go home. He had made a considerable profit with his time as a guitarist and, considering the profession, that still wasn't much compared to what other jobs made. But it was what he loved to do so he was happy. Where was home? Well, anywhere really. He just had to find a place to park that he was comfortable enough sleeping at.

"Sure wish I'd thought ahead," he said with a sigh. If it wasn't for his own pride he'd move back in with his foster parents, but he still didn't have the answers he wanted. Should I give them a call? he thought, turning the option over in his mind for a little bit. At last he came to a decision saying, "Ahh, why not? Been a while since I've talked to them anyway."

He took out his phone, scrolled down to the name that read 'Home'. He pressed the call button, held it up to his ear and then out of nowhere there was a blinding flash of light in front of him, as well as the feel of the earth shaking around him. With a surprised shout he slammed his foot on the break, swerving to avoid the bigger bits of rock that threatened to do some serious damage to his car.

"Hello?" came the voice of his foster mother. "Honey, are you there?"

"Y-Yeah... yeah, I'm here," he said, picking up his phone. "I'll call you back in a bit, alright?"

"Tas, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm alright... talk to you in a bit."

With that he hung up his phone, slid it into his pants pocket, exited his truck and headed towards the impact site.

*...**...**...*

When he got there smoke was still roiling up from the scorched soil. It was quite the sight to behold, and with how deep the crater was he felt himself lucky to have been further back.

"Geez," he said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "That could've been me under all that!" As he stood and stared he began to process just exactly what he was seeing. This was an meteorite, a fully formed meteorite that had not burnt up within the atmosphere. I'm supposed to call someone about this, right? he thought, trying to remember how he was supposed to go about doing these things. Then he noticed something strange, something that for some inexplicable reason provoked the feline curiosity that was inherent from his mother's side of the family. The stone along one particular portion of the meteorite had worn away, and from inside of it a black substance was leaking out.

"What the hell... ?" He leaned in closer to get a better look, but just as he had the black substance exploded out covering his pants and a portion of his stomach. "Eugh! What the fuck!? Ugh... gonna take forever to wash this out." He ran his fingers through it out of curiosity and found that it was the consistency of tar.

Deciding to cut his losses he went back to his truck and got inside. He drove the next few miles to some no-tell motel, paying the fee with half the meager funds that he had. After heading into his room he looked down and was surprised to find that there was no trace of the black sludge in his fur, it all seemed to have gathered onto his pants. With a shrug he tossed his clothes onto the floor, went to take a shower and then went to bed. He'd have a long day at the laundromat tomorrow.

With a left turn he was going down another path, trying to avoid the black mass that was chasing him through the city streets. But it just wouldn't leave him alone. It had this mournful howl, he jerked around and tensed as his attention fixated on the entity.

"Get away!" he screamed, glancing back and seeing it collapse just in front of him, causing him to skid to a stop. "No, no, no, no!"

He looked for some avenue of escape, but there was none. Just then the ooze was thrown off him, causing him to fall back on his butt as he watched a large tiger-like creature do battle with it. Eventually, the black ooze threw it away, it threw itself on top of him and he felt himself drowning.

He woke up with a start, hyperventilating as he looked around. "Geez... what a nightmare," he said, blinking as he noticed the world's perspective. "What the...."

Everything was upside-down, and as he looked up he noticed he was hanging from the bottom of a tree without even grabbing onto it. The ramifications of what he saw caused the part of his brain that understood the known laws of physics into a panic. He gave a shout, flailing his arms, feeling himself flip over and fall the whole fifty feet. He landed on his hands and feet, blinking as he noticed not even a bit of pain was felt.

"I'm alive... what?" he said with a grin, looking at his hands and freezing. That was when he knew something was different. He looked the rest of himself over, felt his heart freeze and then panicked. After thinking of himself without the suit it seemed to recede inside of his skin. "I-- wait, hold on! What the--" He was caught up for words. "What the fuck is going on!?" He would figure it out later. For now, he needed to find his way back to the motel.

*...**...**...*

The next few days were a whirlwind of events. He had gone through the experience of knowing and understanding his symbiote, although he would never fully bond with it. That much he had told it from the get-go. There were even instances where he would will it off of himself for some personal space which the symbiote was loath to, but it was the way things were. Howler was its name, it was not evil, it was not good, it just needed. It needed what he needed and that made them both happy.